The Medical/Dental Prerequisites

Shown below are the minimum requirements for medical (allopathic and osteopathic) and dental schools with the corresponding UNH course numbers in parentheses. These courses can be taken as part of a student's major requirements, as General Education requirements, as requirements for a minor, or as electives.

NOTE: The requirements for Physician Assistant, Physical Therapy, Podiatric Medicine, and other health professional programs can vary, and students interested in these programs are urged to review the respective health professions information sheet in order to formulate an appropriate curriculum, and contact individual schools for specific requirements.

→ INCO 403 (only offered in Spring)
  • One year of Biology with lab
 → BIOL 411 and 412
  • One year of Chemistry with lab
 → CHEM 403 and 404
  • One year of Organic Chemistry w/ lab
 → CHEM 651/653 & 652/654 or 547/549 and 548/550
  • One year of Physics with lab
 → PHYS 401 and 402 or 407 and 408
  • One calculus course *
 → MATH 424a, 424b, or 425
  • One statistics course
 → BIOL 528, PSYC 402, SOC 502, HHS 540, ADMN 420 *
  • One year of English
 → ENGL 401 plus 502 or 503 (ENGL 501 or 419 may also be used)
  • One semester of Biochemistry w/ lab
 → BMCB 658/659 or BMCB 751 and 752

*Some schools may require two semesters of calculus (Johns Hopkins/Harvard)

AP Credit, though accepted by UNH, is not universally accepted by medical or dental schools. If you have placed out of one of the above courses, you will need to take additional upper level courses in that subject area.

Additional, Suggested Courses

For students not majoring in life sciences it may be useful to take one or two additional upper level science courses. In addition to the courses listed above, one or more of the following courses, though not required, can be helpful in preparation for entrance exams, school interviews, and for medical or dental study in general.

Additional science courses:

  • Endocrinology

BMS 702W
  • Mammalian Physiology
BMS 718
  • Animal Physiology
 ZOOL 625/626
  • Vertebrate Morphology
 ZOOL 518
  • Genetics
 GEN 604
  • Cell/Developmental Biology
 BMCB 605
  • General Microbiology
 BMS 503
  • Comparative Histology
 BMS 623
  • Pathologic Basis of Disease
BMS 704
  • ANSC 511-512 or BMS 507-508 (for medical/dental programs, unless required for your major, an upper level physiology course is preferred over these courses)

Additional health related courses:
  • Medical Anth:Illness & Healing
 ANTH 610
  • Sculpture
 ARTS 567 (recommended for Predental students)
  • U.S. Health Care Systems
 HMP 401 (and/or other HMP courses)
  • Ethical Issues Health Mgmt/Med
 HMP 744
  • Greek and Latin Origins of Medical Terms
 CLAS 525
  • Medical Sociology
 SOC 635
  • Law, Medicine & Morals
 PHIL 660
  • SPAN (any course emphasizing conversational Spanish)

Please keep in mind that the previous lists are only suggested courses, not required courses. If you are a good student with a competitive GPA (~3.5), you will be at no distinct disadvantage if you are unable to fit these courses into your schedule. However, if you have performed at the C level or below in one or more of the required science courses, your application might benefit if you were to take and do well in one or more of the above science courses.

The following is a passage from the American Association of Medical Colleges Medical School Admissions Requirements, 2006-2007

Advanced science coursework is not typically required by medical schools.  Students may choose to take upper-level science courses because of their own interests or undergraduate major requirements.  Taking additional science courses that duplicate the basic science material in the first two years of medical school is not recommended.  In fact, practicing physicians often recommend that, during the final years of college, premedical students take advantage of what might be their last opportunity for the study of non-science area (music, art, history, and literature) that might become avocational interests later in life.